DC has this long history and vast backlog of characters, and how they deal with that varies. JSA came out during one of those times when DC apparently decided to lean into the decades of history. Funny to note they tried a Justice Society book in the early '90s and it ended after 10 issues, but flash forward about 6 to 7 years and you've got this book, which last 87 issues, plus various annuals tie-ins and ancillary series.
Maybe James Robinson's success with Starman convinced DC to try to actualize utilize the characters they had just lying around. Fans - a subset of them, at least - liked seeing things connected. Characters with the same codenames tied into a (theoretically) coherent legacy. Like No-Prizes (yeah, it's a different company, I know) come to life. The kind of stuff Geoff Johns seemingly lives to write (dismemberment optional, but highly recommended.)
Or that might have nothing to do with it. I didn't pick up any JSA until years after the fact, and it was due to positive word-of-mouth when I did. Some of the guys at the local comic store liked it, and Kalinara talked about the book a fair amount on her blog, as I think she was a big fan of Sand, aka Sanderson Hawkins, aka Sandy, the Golden Boy, aka whatever the fuck '70s fever dream is going on up there.
Plus, it seemed to be a book that was trying to do something with Power Girl, letting her kick ass and not take any crap from Wildcat, so what the hell. I bought trades of the first couple of arcs, then scattered issues that looked interesting. Sometimes it works for me. There are a couple of done-in-ones around issue 40, one focusing on Power Girl, another on Dr. Mid-Nite, that I like. The insistence on making Black Adam a more-violent Namor, some morally grey guy with noble intentions behind his dismembering of people? Eh, I could take or leave that on its own, but it seemed like it was Johns' in to indulge more graphically violent impulses.
That said, sometimes the stories might as well be gibberish. Sand having powers that gave him control over the earth because there was a story once where he got turned into a big sand monster? OK, sure, fine. But then Johns tries to work in prophetic dream stuff that's either part of weird '70s Sandman or Vertigo Comics Sandman Mystery Theater and it all starts to be a bit much. How many things is Sand supposed to carry on from his mentor? Pick earthbender or pre-cog. Plus, that story has all this stuff about Hector Hall (the new Dr Fate) and his wife Lyta (who is a Fury, or the Fury, I don't know) that I couldn't make heads or tails.
Johns is trying to connect dots that aren't even in the same activity book. Props for the effort, I guess.
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